Whale Harbor

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK - NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a sweeping multigenerational saga inspired by the author's family history, following eleven brothers as they are set on different paths between Ireland, England, Montana, and New York.

1960s, Ireland. In the wake of tragedy, a father makes choices for his eleven grieving sons. The older brothers will emigrate to England for work, while the younger ones will stay behind. The second eldest, Macdara, is offered a job on a Montana cattle ranch and sets off. His spirited younger brother Rian begs to come along and Mac promises to bring Rian to America as soon as he's old enough. But then one day Mac gets a call that Rian has gone missing. His disappearance will haunt Mac and his family across decades.

Spanning lifetimes and continents, Whale Harbor is "tender, immersive, and exquisitely written" (Florence Knapp, author of The Names) with award-winning author Mary Beth Keane's signature wit, eloquence, and attention to the emotional resonance of family, brotherhood, and the choices that echo across generations.

1. The story begins with Mac pushing his younger brother Rian to practice his English in place of Irish. What do these initial interactions tell you about the Cuan and its community?

2. How does meeting Professor Browne-who insists on being called Vincent-shape Mac and his ideas about his future in Ireland?

3. Discuss how Cathal's character develops after their lives are upended. Recall how his presence around his sons changes, especially once he introduces the boys to Nuala.

4. After spending some time in Montana, Mac says he "stopped dreaming of [his brothers]-their nightly drownings and burnings, their cries for help" (page 117). How do you think Mac's life would have been different had he stayed in Ireland?

5. On page 170, Mac learns that Cathal is now regarded as a more dependable, better neighbor than he once was. Instead of feeling proud or relieved about his father's improved reputation, "all it did was bring to mind his mother, a baby in her arms . . . no doubt praying to glimpse her husband cycling toward home." Why do you think Mac feels this way?

6. Mac often compares his time in Montana to the probable loneliness Rian felt after Mac left. How does this guilt shape his adulthood and future relationships?

7. When their brother Vincent arrives in New York, some of the Joyces resent the welcome he is given. Did you think this was justified?

8. While visiting Honnie on page 232, Mac asks if she feels lonely, to which she replies she couldn't be lonesome in the place where she was from. How does Mac feel about the Cuan after so many years away? What does he think of as home?

9. How does the loss of Eamon affect the relationship between the Joyce brothers and reignite the search for Rian?

10. We see Mac's daughter Mary grow up into a strong yet stubborn young woman. Discuss where she gets these traits and if you see any similarities between her and any other Joyce family members.

11. Do you think Cathal's final conversation with Rian changed either of their perspectives about each other and their past?

12. Discuss the symbolism behind the eleven whales who appear at the end.

Enhance Your Discussion:
1. Read Mary Beth Keane's novel Ask Again, Yes. Are there any similarities in the way the author writes about family and relationships?

2. Irish phrases and words appear throughout the book. What have you learned about how the Irish language differs from English?

"An emotional saga about the power of family." -People

"Powerful." -Woman's World

"A deeply insightful family saga." -The Millions

"With all the cadence and lyricism of an Irish ballad, Keane's prose and dialogue sparkle with lightness, wit, and authenticity. Brimming with emotion, this charming yet psychologically complex family shines with tenderness, care, and loyalty. Keane's characters express joy, wonder, and genuine love even as they grapple with hardship, grief, and loss." -Booklist (starred review)

"Keane's outstanding ability to encompass family feeling in fluid, translucent prose-as she did in Ask Again, Yes-shines once more in this saga of immigration and lifelong emotional bonds. Epic yet intimate, with a long, satisfying afterecho." -Kirkus (starred review)

"A deeply insightful family saga… Keane evokes each setting beautifully… It's a revelation." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Keane's big-hearted novel wraps readers in the warm embrace of this multigenerational literary saga." -Library Journal (starred review)

"Keane's prose deploys a light, luminous touch even as its plot ventures into heartbreaking territory... Keane is an exceptional storyteller... With richly descriptive prose and a deep understanding of ancestral roots, Whale Harbor reminds readers that when it comes to family, there are no neat and tidy endings." -Shelf Awareness, Maximum Shelf

"Whale Harbor is a very special book, the kind that comes along rarely. It is epic in scope yet, at the same time, so intimate and immersive I could scarcely catch my breath as I read. A meditation on what it means to be a family with all the secret heartaches and disappointments, the losses, and above all, the love that binds them together. Truly magnificent." -Clare Leslie Hall, author of Broken Country

"I picked up Whale Harbor and couldn't stop reading. The gang of brothers, the father, the daughter, the whole family, Ireland, everything-it's a great story, and beautifully written." -Roddy Doyle

"Tender, immersive and exquisitely written, Whale Harbor is the story of a family that seems borne out of both the land and the sea-one that aches with regret and thrums with longing. Mary Beth Keane finds the quiet amongst the bustle of eleven brothers, to pore over their shared mythology and explore the loss, remorse, and fraternal bonds that follow each far into adulthood. I felt I knew the whole cast of characters intimately, as well as the landscapes-the Joyces' Connemara, Montana, and New York will remain etched in my mind. I missed this book whenever I wasn't reading it. Mary Beth Keane is one of my favorite storytellers and here she's at her finest. I adored it." -Florence Knapp, author of The Names

"No one writes about the long arc of family-its loyalties, betrayals, and returns-like Mary Beth Keane. Whale Harbor is an expansive, beautiful novel about how time can reshape love and kinship in ways we'd never anticipate, and a reminder that every family contains a world." -Kathy Wang, author of The Satisfaction Cafe

"Whale Harbor is an exquisite family epic. I was completely invested in the fates of all the Joyce brothers. The places and people were so expertly drawn, I felt like I walked beside them the whole way." -Claire Lynch, author of A Family Matter

"This is a book of such tenderness, full of pain, grief and despair and yet playful and joyful at the same time. Kit de Waal has an uncanny ability to create vivid characters with such empathy that I want to reach into the pages to hug them. I truly loved this book."-Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond